GENEVA / MIA FARROW

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow today pleaded for urgent action to stem violence in the Central African Republic that is taking a heavy toll on the civilian population, especially women and children. CH-UNTV

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:38
• Production Date: 14 November 2013
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: REFUGEES; DISPLACED PERSONS
• Geographic Subject: CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
• MAMS Id: U131114c

Description

STORY: GENEVA / MIA FARROW
TRT: 2.38
SOURCE: CH-UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 14 NOVEMBER 2013, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Shotlist

FILE - RECENT, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations

14 NOVEMBER 2013, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

2. Wide shot, press room
3. SOUNDBITE ( English) Mia Farrow, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador:
"I didn't see a single human being in the seven hour drive from Bangui to Bossangoa. Countless villages destroyed, burned abandoned. On reaching Bossangoa, there are tens of thousands of people , who have fled from the villages that I described, some into the bush and I think the UN estimation is 400 thousand or so people in the bush. That could be an inaccurate number, that's the number that's being quoted. I would not be surprised if the number were much greater."
4. Med shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE ( English) Mia Farrow, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador:
"Around this Church, those 35 thousand people are completely surrounded by armed groups ex-Seleka and they are afraid and rightly so to leave, so you have then that 35 thousand people just huddled there in a confined space and in a very dire situation."
6. Med Shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Mia Farrow, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador:
"The abuse of children, yes absolutely, the abuse of women, abuse of boys and men. I think that the violence in the country is as bad as you can imagine, at every level that you can imagine."
8. Close-up, journalist
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Mia Farrow, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador:
“People who have previously lived harmoniously are now separated and their ethnicity is now absolutely at the top of the way they are identified, so you're either Muslim or Christian and that was never the case before."
10. Med shot, journalists
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Mia Farrow, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador:
"It's a lawless place and people are armed and I shudder to think where this is going. It seems that there are no grown-ups at the table apart from the aid workers who have made a decision to try to risk everything to sustain the most vulnerable people on earth."
12.Wide shot, journalists in the room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Mia Farrow, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador:
"The seeds are present for a genocide. You have the ethnic components. You have the armed groups. You have on-going atrocities of the worse kind and you have a very imperilled civilian population.”
14. Wide shot, press room

Storyline

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow today (14 November) pleaded for urgent action to stem violence in the Central African Republic that is taking a heavy toll on the civilian population, especially women and children.

Speaking after a week-long visit to the country, Farrow described the Central African Republic as a place with the most abandoned people on earth.

She told journalists in Geneva of the abuse of women and children, boys and men and said that the level of violence in the country was "as bad as you can imagine, on every level that you can imagine."

Echoing the words of UN humanitarian officials, Ms Farrow warned that the seeds were present for a genocide. She pointed to the ethnic components saying that armed Christian and Muslim groups carried out "on-going atrocities of the worse kind on ... a very imperiled civilian population."

"Both groups are really bad", the actress said

Farrow spoke of driving from the capital Bangui to Bossangoa, passing countless destroyed, abandoned and burned villages, from which an estimated 400,000 people have fled to the bush. She spoke of an area around a church in Bossangoa, where thirty-five thousand people are huddled in a confined space in a dire situation, surrounded by armed militia.

The UNICEF Goodwill ambassador said the Central African Republic was a lawless place, with “few grown-ups at the table” apart from the aid workers, who risk everything to try to sustain what she views as the most vulnerable people on earth.

She hoped her testimony would help Central Africa's abandoned and spoke of the need for a force to protect the entire population..

UNICEF is appealing for an additional twenty million dollars to provide more food, water, medicine and shelter in Central African Republic.

This was Farrow's third visit to Central African Republic following previous trips in 2007 and 2008. She joined UNICEF as Goodwill ambassador in September 2000.